Chaldean Church Buildings Bombed

A Chaldean Catholic church, rectory and convent in the northern Iraq city of Mosul were bombed in two separate incidents in late November, but no one was injured. Explosives were detonated inside St. Ephrem’s Church on Nov. 26, and the building was reduced to a “blackened shell.” The church rectory also was attacked. Hours later a bomb was thrown at St. Theresa’s Convent in New Mosul, west of the city. At least five Dominican sisters escaped unharmed. A series of church bombings in Mosul in July left at least four dead and more than 30 injured. A flare-up in violence in October 2008 claimed the lives of 13 Christians and forced thousands of Christians to flee the city. In February 2008 Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul, Iraq, was kidnapped, and his driver and two bodyguards were killed. Two weeks later his body was recovered after kidnappers revealed where it was buried.